Match Day pairs Rockford medical students with residencies

Friday

Mar 21, 2014 at 11:18 AMMar 21, 2014 at 11:18 AM

By Melissa WestphalRockford Register Star

ROCKFORD — More than 40 graduating medical students will learn today where they’ll spend the next few years working as residents during the annual Match Day ceremony at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford.

The same ceremony takes place today at all 126 medical schools across the country.

Students rank their top choices for hospitals and health systems, and the residency programs do the same. Both are then matched through a computerized process.

The students open envelopes containing their matches in front of their fellow students, family members and friends. Reactions typically include lots of hugs, happy tears and fist-pumping.

Michelle Apple of Amboy hopes to match in obstetrics/gynecology at one of three locations in California — the University of California at Davis, Kaiser Permanente or Stanford University.

Her boyfriend, James Gullow, is in the military and matched at Travis Air Force Base in California. She’s not sure if they’ll settle out there, but she would definitely like to return to the Midwest one day.

Apple said she has known since high school that she wanted to work in the medical field.

“I’m very nervous, I’m very excited,” Apple said of Match Day. “I’ve been anxious all week ever since we got the email saying (the matches were ready).”

Match Day takes place at 11:15 a.m. today. Check back to rrstar.com later today for an update.